TENNIS PRO ROB BEDNAR BRINGING HIS YEARS OF TEACHING EXPERIENCE TO THE NEW PARK AVENUE TENNIS CENTER
By Mike Ready
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OCEAN TOWNSHIP - After 20 years as a tennis pro at Jersey 34 in Matawan, Rob Bednar has made the move to the brand-new Park Avenue Tennis Center in Ocean Township.
The new eight-court “State of the Sport” indoor tennis center, located adjacent to the Ocean Community Pool and Tennis facility at 615 West Park Avenue, opened last fall to rave reviews and is rapidly becoming a family-oriented hub for instructional, developmental, competitive and recreational players of all ages.
Bednar grew up with tennis in his blood. As a young boy he learned the game from his mother, who played competitively at Drexel University, and by the time he was 15 years old, Bednar was already coaching and teaching friends of his mother’s children.
He was also a mentor to his younger sister, who went on to win three national championships while playing for the University of Tennessee and is now a tennis pro in Florida.
“I’ve just been very passionate about playing my whole life,” said Bednar. “I still play competitive doubles and just love the game so much. I’ve got to keep myself in the game so I’m still very active with the doubles.”
After excelling at Mercer County Community College, Bednar walked on at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where he earned a spot on the tennis team as the No. 5 singles player. However, following his collegiate career, an ankle injury derailed any hopes of turning pro.
“I did make a little comeback attempt in my early 20’s,” said Bednar. “I tried my hand on the satellite circuit, which is now the futures, for a while but got a real taste of reality of just how competitive as a player it is on the professional level.”
Bednar always knew he wanted to be a tennis teacher so following his retirement from competitive tennis he followed his dream.
“I knew right away when I was a kid what I wanted to do as a profession,” Bednar said. “I always wanted to be a tennis teacher. It was a dream of mine that came true. That’s the real truth of the matter, and I was passionate about being able to do that.”
Local tennis pro, Ray Grace, taught Bednar the ropes of the profession and shortly after, Bednar got certified by the USPTA. He then took a job as a tennis instructor at Fox Chase Tennis Club in Chester, NJ, where he worked under the tutelage of master pro, Greg Presuto.
“Greg was the guy who was most instrumental in my teaching and learning the actual business of being a tennis instructor,” said Bednar. “He taught me everything about the business from buying, to selling, to running a club and opening and closing, the cash register, cleaning the club, stringing rackets – the whole business.”
After a few years, Bednar was offered a job at Jersey 34 where he was an instructor for 20 years before joining the staff at Park Avenue Tennis Center.
While at Jersey 34, another highly regarded tennis pro, John Shaw, took Bednar under his wing and was here that Bednar really developed and refined his skills as a teacher.
“For whatever reason he (Shaw) took me under his wing and he was one of the top teaching pros in Monmouth County forever,” Bednar said. “He taught a tremendous amount of nationally-ranked kids and I learned from everything he did. He was just a tremendous, tremendous teacher.”
Across the board, Bednar is proficient at every level of teaching, but will be specializing in kids 10 and under at Park Avenue Tennis Center.(1).jpg)
“As far as the teaching aspect goes, what I’m specializing in right now is the 10 and under kids, and I’ll be heading up the Quick Start program,” said Bednar. “I like working with the kids first because then I can teach them the proper form and technique and I don’t have to worry about having them relearn once they get to me. I like to get to them first because I feel like I’m really good at teaching them the proper basics, form and technique from the start.”
Many of Bednar’s past students have gone on to earn partial or full academic/athletic scholarships to schools such as Bucknell, Colgate and Brown, just to name a few.
“Most of the kids that are across the net from me are very good academically and tennis is a complement to what they’re already doing academically,” said Bednar. “Tennis and academics seem to work well together.”
Bednar is at the facility every day and he’s in the process of creating all new programs for the juniors which he’ll oversee.
“I’m very happy I made the commitment to Park Avenue and I think it’s going to be a fantastic club for the area, I really do,” said Bednar. “I also think this particular area is a big tennis area and a lot of people love to play.
“I’m very fortunate that I get to do what I love; not a lot of people get to do that,” Bednar added. “And I’m just so excited for what the club has to offer the community.”
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